Philip Chetwode, 1st Baron Chetwode

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Field Marshal The Right Honourable

The Lord Chetwode
Portrait by John St Helier Lander, 1919
Born21 September 1869
Westminster, England
Died6 July 1950(1950-07-06) (aged 80)
Marylebone, England
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Service/branchBritish Army
Years of service1889–1935
RankField Marshal
UnitOxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry
19th Royal Hussars
Commands held19th Royal Hussars
London Mounted Brigade
5th Cavalry Brigade
2nd Cavalry Division
Desert Column
XX Corps
Aldershot Command
Commander-in-Chief, India
Battles/wars
Awards
Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George
Distinguished Service Order
Other workConstable of the Tower
President of the Royal Geographical Society

GCStJ (21 September 1869 – 6 July 1950), was a senior British Army officer. He saw action during the Second Boer War, during which he was present at the Siege of Ladysmith in December 1899. He saw action again during World War I on the Western Front, taking part in the First Battle of Ypres, and then in the Sinai and Palestine campaign during which he led his corps at the First Battle of Gaza in March 1917, at the Battle of Beersheba in October 1917 and the Battle of Jerusalem
in November 1917.

After the War he held a series of senior military appointments including

Commander in Chief in India
in 1930 and was much concerned with the modernisation and "Indianisation" of the army in India.

Early life and education

Born the son of

19th Hussars on 20 November 1889.[2]

Military career

Chetwode (foreground) at El Arish, Egypt, January 1917

Promoted to

Peace of Vereeniging in late May 1902, and the following month Chetwode returned home in the SS Tagus, arriving at Southampton in July.[7] He succeeded as 7th Baronet in 1905.[2]

Philip Chetwode c. 1930s

In 1906, Chetwode became assistant military secretary to

London Mounted Brigade.[2]

During the Curragh incident in March 1914 Chetwode was offered command of the 3rd Cavalry Brigade when Hubert Gough threatened to resign.[2] He knew that he would be "looked upon by all his brother officers as a scab” but thought it "his duty as a soldier to do as he was ordered & not to meddle in politics".[11] In the event Gough kept his command and Chetwode remained with the London Mounted Brigade, but his willingness to replace Gough caused some ill feeling.[2] Promoted to temporary brigadier-general on 15 May 1914,[12] he was given command of the 5th Cavalry Brigade in August 1914.[2]

From left to right are, Sir Edmund Allenby, Rennie MacInnes, Malcolm Donald Murray, HRH the Duke of Connaught, Major General J S M Shea, Sir E S Bulfin, General Sir Harry Chauvel, Sir Philip Chetwode
(March 19, 1918).

In

major-general on 15 July 1915[13] and to substantive major-general on 1 January 1916.[14] With the war in Europe become bogged down in trench warfare, Chetwode was lucky to be transferred to the Palestine where he was given command of the Desert Column and promoted to temporary lieutenant general with effect from 22 November 1916.[15] He led the corps at Rafa in January 1917 and at the First Battle of Gaza in March 1917.[16] When Edmund Allenby took command of the Allied forces in Palestine in June 1917, Chetwode was promoted to command of XX Corps.[16] He led his corps to military success at the Battle of Beersheba in October 1917 and at the Battle of Jerusalem in November 1917.[17] During the Sinai and Palestine campaign he was mentioned in despatches eight times.[16]

Service in India and after

After the war, and following promotion to the substantive rank of lieutenant-general on 1 January 1919,[18] Chetwode was appointed to a number of senior military appointments serving as Military Secretary from 1919, Deputy Chief of the Imperial General Staff from October 1920, Adjutant-General to the Forces from September 1922 and Commander in Chief Aldershot Command from early 1923.[16] He was promoted to full general on 1 June 1926.[19]

Chetwode became

field marshal on 13 February 1933.[20] In his tenure as Commander-in-Chief, India, Chetwode was an opponent of replacing horses with tanks; he "made the surprising pronouncement that the Army in India would be unlikely to adopt tanks for a very long time, and then only to keep up the momentum of horsed cavalry."[21] He was much concerned with the modernisation and "Indianisation" of the army in India. The main building and its central hall at the Indian Military Academy
is named after him. The credo of the academy, engraved on the entrance to the central hall, is a passage from his address delivered at the formal inauguration of the academy in 1932:

The safety, honour and welfare of your country come first, always and every time.

The honour, welfare and comfort of the men you command come next.

Your own ease, comfort and safety come last, always and every time.

This is known as the "Chetwode Motto" and is the motto of the officers passing out from the academy.[22]

Chetwode returned from India in May 1934.

Oxford University.[24] He had been appointed a deputy lieutenant of Buckinghamshire on 6 March 1919.[25] He was created Baron Chetwode, of Chetwode in the County of Buckingham, on 10 July 1945[26][27] and died in London on 6 June 1950.[23]

Family

Chetwode married Hester (Star) Alice Camilla Stapleton Cotton and had a son Roger and a daughter Penelope.[23]

  • Roger Chetwode married Honourable Molly Berry, daughter of the 1st Viscount Camrose. He was killed on active service on 14 August 1940 at age 34, leaving two sons: Philip, the 2nd Baron Chetwode, and Christopher.
  • Honourable
    Poet Laureate) and had a son Paul and daughter Candida Lycett Green
    .

Chetwode's sister Florence was married to General Noel Birch.

Honours and awards

British

Foreign

Notes

  1. ^ "No. 25808". The London Gazette. 17 April 1888. p. 2200.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Heathcote 1999, p. 87.
  3. ^ "No. 26076". The London Gazette. 5 August 1890. p. 4283.
  4. ^ "No. 26826". The London Gazette. 23 February 1897. p. 1097.
  5. ^ a b "No. 27359". The London Gazette. 27 September 1901. p. 6305.
  6. ^ "No. 27397". The London Gazette. 14 January 1902. p. 295.
  7. ^ "The Army in South Africa - Troops returning Home". The Times. No. 36812. London. 5 July 1902. p. 8.
  8. ^ "No. 28111". The London Gazette. 21 February 1908. p. 1206.
  9. ^ "No. 28569". The London Gazette. 5 January 1912. p. 130.
  10. ^ "No. 28604". The London Gazette. 3 May 1912. p. 3181.
  11. ^ Jeffery 2006, p. 121, 124.
  12. ^ "No. 28832". The London Gazette. 19 May 1914. p. 4006.
  13. ^ "No. 29267". The London Gazette (Supplement). 18 August 1915. p. 8247.
  14. ^ "No. 12894". The Edinburgh Gazette. 17 January 1916. p. 86.
  15. ^ "No. 29882". The London Gazette (Supplement). 28 December 1916. p. 12647.
  16. ^ a b c d e Heathcote 1999, p. 88.
  17. ^ "Philip Chetwode". Hart Centre for Military Archives. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
  18. ^ "No. 13379". The Edinburgh Gazette. 6 January 1919. p. 88.
  19. ^ "No. 33169". The London Gazette. 4 June 1926. p. 3654.
  20. ^ "No. 33917". The London Gazette. 3 March 1933. p. 1428.
  21. ^ Dixon 1976, p. 117.
  22. ^ "Servant-hood". Indus International Community School. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
  23. ^ a b c Heathcote 1999, p. 89.
  24. ^ "Cardinal Seredi at Oxford". Catholic Herald. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
  25. ^ "No. 31230". The London Gazette. 14 March 1919. p. 3483.
  26. ^ "No. 37119". The London Gazette (Supplement). 14 June 1945. p. 2933.
  27. ^ "No. 37177". The London Gazette. 13 July 1945. p. 3629.
  28. ^ "No. 30111". The London Gazette (Supplement). 4 June 1917. p. 5458.
  29. ^ "No. 33501". The London Gazette (Supplement). 3 June 1929. p. 3668.
  30. ^ "No. 30471". The London Gazette (Supplement). 11 January 1918. p. 721.
  31. ^ "No. 29086". The London Gazette. 18 February 1915. p. 2090.
  32. ^ "No. 33676". The London Gazette. 2 January 1931. p. 53.
  33. ^ "No. 34056". The London Gazette. 4 June 1934. p. 3559.
  34. ^ "No. 34238". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 January 1936. p. 4.
  35. ^ "No. 30081". The London Gazette (Supplement). 21 May 1917. p. 4920.
  36. ^ "No. 13350". The Edinburgh Gazette. 12 November 1918. p. 4176.

References

External links

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Military offices
Preceded by
New post
 General Officer Commanding XX Corps
1917–1918 		Succeeded by
Corps disbanded
Preceded by Military Secretary
1919–1920 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Deputy Chief of the Imperial General Staff
1920–1922 		Succeeded by
Post abolished
Preceded by Adjutant General
1922–1923 		Succeeded by
Preceded by GOC-in-C Aldershot Command
1923–1927 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Chief of the General Staff (India)
1928–1930 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
The Lord Birdwood
 Commander-in-Chief, India
1930–1935 		Succeeded by
Honorary titles
Preceded by Colonel of the Royal Scots Greys
1925–1947 		Succeeded by
George Todd
Preceded by Constable of the Tower of London
1943–1948 		Succeeded by
Peerage of the United Kingdom
New creation Baron Chetwode
1945–1950 		Succeeded by
Baronetage of England
Preceded by
George Chetwode
 Baronet
(of Oakley)
1905–1950 		Succeeded by
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